


5 Times Jude Didn’t Tell Noah He’s Adopted and 1 Time He Did

by HeartHarps



Series: 5+1 [1]
Category: The Fosters (TV 2013)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 03:12:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13045299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartHarps/pseuds/HeartHarps
Summary: “I tried to ask but you didn’t answer.”“What?”“Okay, it. It wasn’t a question. But! I implied that I was curious.”..."You really didn't know?"





	5 Times Jude Didn’t Tell Noah He’s Adopted and 1 Time He Did

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this instead of studying for exams. Noah and Jude haven't actually talked about Jude being adopted yet, so...  
> Noah goes to Heritage Christian School.

“So, you go to school with Taylor?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. She’s my best friend.”

“Cool. Yeah. We’ve gone to church together for, like, years.”

Jude nodded as he continued to fold t-shirts.

“So, do you go to church?” Noah asked, heaving a box onto the table.

“Oh. No.”

_ Damn _ , Noah thought, and tried to hide the disappointment on his face. Guys who weren’t Christian didn’t usually stick around very long, and Noah liked Jude… 

“My moms aren’t religious.” Jude said, so blasé.

_ Oh!  _ Noah perked up. “You have two moms? That’s so cool.”

Jude looked up, a little puzzled.

“I, uh, haven’t met that many gay adults. Not many in the church, if you can believe it,” Noah explained, and it looked like Jude was starting to understand. 

“Yeah, I can.” He looked off into space as he recalled, “I think Mom used to go to church…”

Noah waited for more but it never came. “So, are you from San Diego?”

“Uh, yep,” Jude said. “Moved around some, but always in town.”

“Nice.”

 

+

“She’s gay…She’s gay…They’re gay, dating, as you can see,” Jude scanned the crowd of absurdly dressed adults. “And over there, she’s bi, actually…”

“Didn’t you say she was your principle?”

“Yeah.”

Noah laughed. Like, really loud. Jude didn’t think it was that funny, but, he humoured him. “And them, are they gay?” Noah asked, gesturing to the man in the white John Travolta suit and the man with his shirt half unbuttoned talking to each other.

Jude chuckled. “Nooo, that’s Mike, Brandon’s father, and Gabe is the twins’ biological father.”

“Ah.” Noah said, staring empty at the two men. “Your family is so cool.”

 

+

“I only want to do what you want to.”

_ Really _ ? Jude thought, but then Noah was smiling that smile and… _ Really. _ He smiled back. “Okay.” 

Noah reached out. “Come here.” Jude accepted the hug, and let Noah’s arms hold him fast and strong. He knew that, for the first time in a long time, somebody accepted him for who he was, and that was enough. 

“Well,” Jude started, leaning back as little as possible, but enough to see Noah, “Since you came all the way here...” He retrieved the pipe and a bag of pot from his pocket.

Noah laughed. Jude’s heart fluttered.

They made quick work of getting comfy and getting started. Before long, smoke was billowing in clouds around them.

“Hey, can I ask…” Jude trailed off as he second guessed himself.

Noah let one hand wander over. “What’s up?”

_ He accepts me _ , Jude reminded himself.  _ It’s okay _ . “Can I ask, about your exes?”

“Oh, uh…” Noah looked away.   
Jude panicked. “Just forget it I don’t really-”

“No, it’s okay.” Noah took Jude’s hand in his own. “It’s okay to want to know.” He gave Jude a smile and began. “At Heritage, I met Deyonte. We had math together.” Noah rolled his eyes, making Jude giggle. “I, uh, go to camp most summers, like, Christian camp. I kissed a couple boys then.”

“I’ve been there.”

“Christian camp?”

“Oh, no, I’ll-I’ll explain after, keep going.”

“And then there was Chris, who went to a different church that I visited with my mom. He was unremarkable. Ben, at Heritage. He’s a year older, and he switched schools this year, so, we broke up over the summer.” Jude gave him a pout. “Tragic, I know.” 

Jude nodded. He wasn't really sure what to say. “Cool. Thank you.” 

“What about you?” Noah asked, breathing on the pipe and pulling Jude’s hand to rest on his knee.

“Right. Uh, well, you know about Connor. It was actually really complicated. We kissed in a tent on a school trip.” 

Noah’s eyebrows shot up. “Ah.”

“Yeah. Then he dated this girl because his dad is super homophobic. That’s why he moved. But before he moved we dated for a bit.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s for the best, I guess. And if he hadn’t moved, I wouldn’t have met you.” Jude reasoned, making Noah smile.

“Yeah I guess.” 

Jude kissed him. Short and sweet, a reminder of why they were there, re-hashing all their sad love stories.

“Anyone else?” Noah asked.

As the next name came to mind, that familiar, dark gray sadness settled in Jude’s chest. “Uh. Yeah.” He sighed and took his hand back, hugging himself. He puffed on the pipe as Noah reached over to place his hand on Jude’s shoulder. “His name was Jack. After Connor moved, I tried making more friends. Jack was staying in a group home and it got shut down, so he came to stay with us. I was still dealing with Connor and stuff and I was sad a lot…He kissed me. Later I found out he wasn’t gay. He just pitied me. But, uh…I had to hear that from my sister. Because he died. His foster father…killed him.”

“Oh my gosh, Jude.”

“Yeah.”

“I am…so sorry you had to go through that. I can’t imagine.”

Jude just nodded a little and breathed on the pipe.

“I haven’t gone through anything like that, Jude, but if you ever want to talk to someone, or if you’re feeling sad again…”

Jude didn’t look up.

Noah leaned over, resting his chin on Jude’s shoulder. “I just care about you too much to let you go through anything alone.”

That got a ghost of a smile. “Okay.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah!” Jude said, trying to force the sadness out of himself. The pot was really settling in and he was feeling more and more giddy every second. “Then Taylor and I kissed. Wild. I’m so gay.”

Noah sat up and laughed. 

 

+

 

_ Hey _

8:14am

_ Hey! You’re up early _

9:32am

_ Yeah my family’s at Bayfest today, promoting this foster care reform bill _

9:39am

_ That’s cool _

9:41am

_ #justiceforjack lol _

9:42am

_ :) _

9:42am

_ You okay? _

9:42am

_ Yeah I’ll be fine _

9:45am

_ Miss you _

9:46am

_ Awwww _

9:50am

_ That’s cool you’re so interested in foster care _

9:52am

_ You should send me details about the bill, I can probably get my church to support it _

9:55am

_ Bayfest on park blvd right? _

10:05am

_ Yeah why _

10:14am

 

+

“You celebrate Christmas?”

“Yeah.”

Noah was mostly on top of Jude as they laid in the hammock in Noah’s backyard, but he took this opportunity to shimmy onto his side to look at Jude. “Can I get you something?”

“Like, a present?” Jude teased.

Noah’s sincerity didn’t waver. “Yeah, like a present.”

“Ok. If you want to.”

“I do.”

Jude smiled. “Can I get you a present too?”

“Oh I really don’t need anything-”

“That’s not fair. Let me get you something.”

Noah sighed and flopped down onto Jude’s chest. “If you must.” He started playing with the buttons on Jude’s shirt absentmindedly. “What’s Christmas like at your house?”

“Hectic,” Jude answered, possibly too quickly.

Noah just laughed. “I bet.” He waited, but Jude didn’t offer anything else. “Lots of family around?”

“Yeah, my grandparents come.”

“What about birth parents?” Noah offered, very open-endedly.

Jude considered it. “Well Ana might, now that she married Mike...I dunno. What about your house?”

Noah sighed. “It’s a lot of parties and adults, so I’m high for like, a month straight.”

Jude laughed. “That’s awesome.”

 

+

“Send me a picture,” Noah said in a sultry voice, waggling his eyebrows.

Jude burst out laughing. Partly because it was funny, partly because he was trying to hide the blush on his cheeks.

“Come on,” Noah prodded, “Your contact in my phone is still a gray circle. You’re not just a gray circle to me, Jude.”

“Okay, okay, let me see,” Jude conceded, as he pulled out his phone.

“What’s my picture in your phone?” Noah asked, snuggling closer to Jude. They were sitting up on Jude’s bed, with Noah’s knees tucked into Jude’s lap.

“Oh the one, from the, thing.”

“Ah yes, the thing.”

“You know what I mean. The, uh, birthday party.”

“With my favourite outfit!” Noah exclaimed, as Jude opened the picture from Mama’s 70s birthday party. “You’re so cute,” He cooed, letting his head fall on Jude’s shoulder.

Jude tried not to smile as he switched to the photos app. “Actually, I gotta pee,” He said, untangling himself from Noah.

“Here,” Noah said, reaching for the phone, “I’ll find one I like.”

Jude surrendered it. “Go wild.” But as he left the room, “Uh actually, Connor’s dick pic still might be saved on there, so tread with caution.”

“Oh this I gotta see,” Noah teased.

Jude was sure he was joking, but when he got back from the bathroom, Noah was sitting up straight and he looked upset.

“Hey, are you ok?”

“Yeah, uhm.” Noah moved to the edge of the bed so Jude could sit down next to him. “Weird question. But. Are you adopted?”

-

“I thought you knew.”

“How was I supposed to know if you never told me?”   
“Taylor? The internet? The fact that I have two moms?”

“Two women can have babies! Transgender people exist, Jude.”

“I know that!”

“I don’t know, I thought you’d at least been with your moms for most of your life.”

“Why do you think we talk about foster care  _ all the time _ ?”

“You don’t!”

“Oh come on.”

“I tried to ask but you didn’t answer.”

“What?”

“Okay, it. It wasn’t a question. But! I implied that I was curious.”

Jude looked away. Then back again. Then away again.

Noah pouted. “I’m sorry.”

Jude turned to him. “You really didn’t know?”

“I didn’t, I swear.”

Jude smiled. “Huh.” He picked up his phone off the bed and exited out of the picture of all the Adams Fosters in front of the ‘Welcome to the family Callie & Jude’ cake. It was just over a year old, and photo evidence that Jude hadn’t been with his moms for long. “It’s just…I’ve been in seven fosters homes in seven years. I’ve always been...you know, the foster kid. The new kid. The weird kid. The kid with no friends.”

Noah gave him a sad smile.

Jude shrugged. “You’re the first person I’ve really gotten to know since I got adopted, so, you’re kind of the first person who doesn’t see me that way.”

“Oh Jude,” Noah whispered, fighting back tears as he pulled Jude into a hug.

Jude just let him be, not really sure why he was crying, but accepting it anyways. “So,” He said as they pulled apart. “You seem to know him best. What do you think of Forever-Home-Jude?”

Noah nodded as he wiped at his face. “He’s amazing. Really.”

Jude smiled. He brushed a stray hair out of Noah’s face. “You must have, like, no idea what’s going on with my family, then, huh.”

Noah laughed. “No idea.”

“Are you curious?”

“So curious. I come from white, Christian suburbia, where every family is this same. You’re the most exciting thing to happen to me since we changed youth group from Wednesday to Thursday.”

“Okay, so…”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please drop a comment with your thoughts, and please check out the epilogue, To Noah, With Love!


End file.
